Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

“He can take his’n and beat your’n, or take your’n and beat his’n” (coaching adage)

One coach (especially a football coach) often compliments another coach, saying that the coach can take his players and beat your players or take your players and beat his players. The success came from the coaching and not simply from the players. “He can take his’n and beat your’n, or take your’n and beat his’n” is the popular form of the saying.

“That Fa-rott, he’s so good that he can take his’n and beat your’n or he can take your’n and beat his’n” was said by Clemson head football coach Frank Howard (1909-1996) about Missouri head football coach Don Faurot (1902-1995). The saying was said about college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant (1913-1983) in 1960 and again in 1974. NFL Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips (1923-2013) said it in 1979 about Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula.

2 October 1950, Emporia (KS) Daily Gazette, “Wins Either Way,” pg. 7, col. 1:
Although Frank Howard’s Clemson Tigers walloped Don Faurot’s Missouri ditto, 34-0, Saturday, nobody has more respect for Faurot’s coaching that Howard. After their Gator bowl tussle in 1949, Howard quoted a Carolina farmer (probably an imaginary one) this way: “That Fa-rott, he’s so good that he can take his’n and beat your’n or he can take your’n and beat his’n.”

24 January 1957, Aiken (SC) Standard and Review, “Palmetto Sports,” pg. 6, col. 4:
Many words have been used to describe the coaching ability of the late Billy Laval. Among the best is attributed to an unidentified night watchman at Clemson College. “He could take his’n and beat your’n, or he could take your’n and beat his’n.”

11 March 1960, Corpus Christi (TX) Times, “Sports Tidbits” by Emil Tagliabue, pg. 48, col. 2:
Today’s best laugh, lifted by an article by Boyce House entitled “Humor in Sports.” Back when Bear Bryant was coaching Texas A&M, a visitor asked a Bryan shoeshine boy, “what kind of a coach is Bryant?”. The boy replied, “He can take his’n and beat your’n, or he can take your’n and beat his’n.”

16 December 1965, The Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), “Sports Notes” by Jim Kriek, pg. 9, col. 1:
Howard also paid the highest compliment to Coach Gaither, whose success has been nothing shor of phenomenal at the Florida Negro college, when he said “Old Jake, here, he can take ‘hisn’ and beat ‘yourn’ or take ‘yourn’ and beat ‘hisn’.”
(Clemson head football coach Frank Howard on Florida A&M head football coach Jake Gaither.—ed.)

Google News Archive
13 December 1974, Miami (FL) News, “Alabama returns five sacks of mail” by John Crittendon, pg. 1C, col. 1:
The top tribute to Paul Bryant, who has gotten his share, comes from Jake Gaither, who said, “Bryant can take his’n and whip your’n and he can take your’n and whip his’n.”

26 January 1979, Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, “At U-Hall, Sampson and West Can Sit Anywhere” by Bill Millsaps, pg. D1, col. 3:
Or, as ex-Bryant assistant “Bum” Phillips, now coach of the Houston Oilers, once said: “Bear could take his’n and beat your’n, and he could take your’n and beat his’n.”

Google News Archive
25 November 1979, Wilmington (NC) Star-News, “What does a man named Bum know” by Dave Anderson (N.Y. Times columnist), pg. 6-C, col. 4:
“Shula can take his’n and beat your’n,” Bum says in his Texas twang, “or he can take your’n and beat his’n.”

ESPN.comEx-coach Bum Phillips dies at age 90
Updated: October 19, 2013, 5:24 PM ET
ESPN.com news services
HOUSTON—Bum Phillips, the folksy Texas football icon who coached the Houston Oilers during their Luv Ya Blue heyday and also led the New Orleans Saints, died Friday. He was 90.
(...)
Among his best Bumisms: “There’s two kinds of coaches, them that’s fired and them that’s gonna be fired.” On Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula: “He can take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n.”